Tips for Proper Parking Lot Lighting

Providing adequate parking is extremely important for any retail store, office building, or other commercial property. When you have a parking lot, it is also very important that it is properly illuminated. There are several tips that you should follow to ensure you provide visitors or tenants with proper lighting in the parking lot.

Adequate Lighting

The first step that you should follow when trying to provide lights to a parking lot is to ensure that there is adequate lighting. Having adequate lighting in a parking lot is important as it will make is much safer.

Not only does it need to have adequate light, but it needs to be evenly distributed throughout the lot.  Not having evenly distributed light can make it very hard to see and drive, which could lead to accidents.  Ideally, you should have automated lights that will turn on once it starts getting dark.  Having lighting that is evenly distributed will also make any onsite security cameras much more effective at picking up images in the lot.

Energy Efficiency

When you are looking to improve the lighting in your parking lot, you should also focus on a lighting solution that is energy efficient. Parking lot lights are frequently illuminated up to 13 hours per day. Because of this, it is very easy to quickly burn through standard light bulbs and run up expensive utility bills. A more affordable and environmentally friendly option would be to invest in LED bulbs that can cut your energy usage in half.

Safer Lighting for Parking Garages

Consider the impression that your business creates when its customers or clients drive into a poorly-lit parking lot. Your customers will feel uncomfortable with dark spot and shadows in your lot and will rush to get into a better-lit location. When the customer leaves, he or she might feel equally unsettled by the prospect of walking through dimly-lit rows of cars. Your business can make its customers feel safer and more at ease while simultaneously saving money and improving customer safety by installing modern LED lighting in its parking facilities.

The existing metal halide or high-pressure sodium lighting fixtures in your lot are effective for good illumination in their immediate vicinities, but that illumination is uneven across large areas that are typical in parking lots. LED parking lot lighting gives you unparalleled control over the distribution of lighting in your lot, regardless of whether the lot is open or a multi-tiered parking structure. You might try to over-light your lot with older lighting technology, but doing so will inevitably affect your neighbors and add to lighting pollution.

Further, your existing lighting technology is wasting money, both in terms of operating capital and maintenance. LED parking lot lighting fixtures can generate the same or better illumination as traditional outdoor lighting with less than half of the electrical energy input. You will see immediate benefits from LED parking lot lights in terms of lower electricity utility bills. LED parking lot lights also continue to generate high quality light for up to 50,000 or more hours of use. Your parking lot lighting maintenance costs will also go down when you install safer LED parking lot lighting.

Perhaps most critically, your customers and clients will appreciate your well-lit parking lot either with a conscious feeling of safety as they move from their vehicles and into your business, or subconsciously with an improved sense of security as they are able to see all areas of your lot with no shadows or dark spots where imagined dangers might be lurking.

Reduce Your Energy Bills And Enhance Your Parking Lot Lighting

Many businesses that have been operating for longer than ten years will likely have some lighting fixtures that have become outdated. When lighting at your business is outdated, you will find yourself paying some very costly energy bills. There was once a time when many businesses did not really think too much about parking lot lighting.

However, parking lot lighting should always be considered a high priority for every business that has a parking lot. A parking lot is the place where employees, customers, etc. park their cars and walk through the doors of your business. Your parking lot lighting needs to be able to provide everyone with a safe and secure location, regardless of what time of day it is.

There are multiple things you will need to consider when it is time to enhance your parking lot lighting:

  • Do you prefer to use bright lights?
  • Do you want lights that will be consistent with their lighting?
  • What type of colors do you want your lights to display?
  • How long will your lights last?
  • How much will it cost for you to have your lights on at all times?

If you really want to understand how beneficial an improved lighting system can be, you should have a full understanding of how your current lighting system has worked over the years. If you are not sure of what type of fixtures you have been using, you should ask one of your maintenance employees.

Enhancing Safety By Upgrading Parking Garage Lighting

As a property owner, two of your primary concerns are reducing costs while enhancing consumer satisfaction. But did you know that you can achieve both of these goals (and more) with one simple appliance switch? If you own a parking garage, whether it is a standalone garage, part of a residential building you own, or a commercial one, one of the best business decisions you can make is upgrading the parking garage lighting to LED options. Doing so will quickly help you realize the two aforementioned goals.

  1. Financial Savings.  Electricity does not come cheap. Especially when you need to power six stories of parking garage floors for 24 hours a day. LED lighting allows you to keep even the darkest corners bright at an incredible reduction in price. Our LED parking garage lighting boasts a 75% reduction in energy consumption which lends to an average of 60% financial savings over traditional lighting.
  2. Improved Safety.  A word about keeping those dark corners lit: It’s a business sense must. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 10% of property crimes occur in parking garages. Not to mention that a significant portion of slips and falls occur due to poor lighting conditions. By improving your garages (and other properties) with brighter, more efficient LED options, you can help reduce the legal or liability issues that may arise out of poor lighting situations.

How Exterior Illumination Easily Makes Your Hotel More Inviting

Adding exterior lighting to your hospitality venue is an easy way to create an appealing façade for your building which will draw in more customers and therefore increase revenue. Illuminating the outside of your business is the perfect way to instantly make it look warmer, more inviting, and higher in quality while still being a cost-effective improvement method.

Aesthetics

Highlighting the exterior features of your hotel including the insignia, well-manicured landscaping and greenery, cascading fountains, and available parking areas and thoroughfares automatically elevates the aesthetic quality of your establishment. When the external characteristics of the hotel are accentuated, patrons will be more likely to investigate the internal amenities and choose to stay there.

Safety

We’ve all seen horror movie scenes where the protagonists coast their stalling automobile into the dark, spooky parking lot of a sinister-looking hotel, foreshadowing the ill-fated activities that take place there. Don’t make the mistake of allowing your building to become a stereotypical Bates Motel lookalike by leaving the outside unlit and unwelcoming. No matter how appealing it may be in the daytime hours, after dusk weary travelers will pass up your venue for a brighter, more cheery option. Not to mention, a lack of lighting also presents a safety hazard, increasing the likelihood of customers and staff members to experience  painful trips and falls.

Conscientiousness

Making the investment to have exterior illumination installed at your building speaks highly of you and your establishment. Being conscientious enough to anticipate the aesthetic quality and safety advantages that outside illumination creates, makes your current and potential customers feel more confident in their decision to book a stay with your company.

Fashioning a beautiful eye-catching hospitality establishment that will be the envy of all others has never been easier. Your literal and figurative “lightbulb moment” will help you become the preferred hotel for family vacationers, business gurus, honeymooners, and adventurers of all sorts.

Is It Time To Upgrade Your Parking Lot Lighting?

Lighting your business’s parking lot is critical in providing your employees, clients, and customers with safety. If you have a dark parking lot, you could put everyone at risk for car accidents and theft. If your business has been opened for many years, there is a good chance your business still has the same lighting in place from the first day it opened.

Over the years, it is likely your lighting is not as good as it used to be. If your lighting is not efficient, it could result in major consequences for your business. If you are unsure if your business needs to replace its parking lot lighting, we want to make you aware of some signs.

Your Lights Have To Be Changed Often

If you have to constantly change the light bulbs in your parking lot, you are likely spending an excessive amount of money that can be used elsewhere. The good thing about LED lights is that they can last for a significant amount of time. If you are tired of replacing your parking lot lights, this could be a sign that you need to choose another option for parking lot lighting.

Complaints From Customers/Employees

Do you hear from your employees and/or customers about how unsafe they feel when they are in the parking lot? Crimes do take place in parking lots, especially when there is not enough lighting. When there is not enough lighting in an area, some people usually take that opportunity to commit crimes against an unsuspecting person.

Dark Areas

When you drive around your parking lot, do you notice that some areas are brighter than others? If there are some places that are not fully lit, your business parking lot has bad lighting. When you use better lighting fixtures, especially LED lighting, you will have better lighting placement.

Two Important Benefits of LED Parking Garage Lighting

Many people consider parking garages as ugly, dark, and dangerous places. This reputation is due in large part to poor upkeep and poor lighting. It doesn’t help that commonly used lights in parking garages produce an eerie off-white color that disorients the customer. However, this can be changed by using clean reflective surfaces on the ceiling and walls and by using LED lighting. Here is how you benefit from this change:

More Attractive to Your Customers

Bright lighting elevates the mood of your customers and makes them feel safer. The feeling of safety that people experience in daylight is both real and psychological. This feeling is reproduced in parking garages brightly lit with LEDs. LED lights closely resemble daylight and therefore produce similar psychological feelings. The improved lighting also makes the area more attractive and upscale. Customers are then more inclined to come back and do repeat business.

Improves Your Customer’s Safety

Bright lighting and surveillance cameras reduce crime. The improved lighting also allows customers to see slippery areas, irregular surfaces, curbs, wheel stops, and other features that might cause slip or trip-and-fall accidents. Reduced crime and falls decreases your risk of customer lawsuits arising from crime victimization and fall injuries. Poor lighting is a common reason property owners are required to pay damages in these lawsuits.

The above benefits are further enhanced by clean, white reflective wall and ceiling surfaces. This disperses light and increases the overall illumination. The right choice of paint or surface treatment will also repel dirt and soot buildup, which diminish the garage illumination over time.

Two other benefits you’ll enjoy from LED parking garage lighting are lower energy bills from the high energy efficiency of LEDs, and reduced maintenance costs from the long operating life of LEDs.

Tips for Exterior Lighting and How to Keep Safe During the Winter

As the days get shorter and the nights longer, having exterior lighting is more important than ever. Whether you own an office building or an apartment building, you need to make sure that the office workers or apartment tenants stay safe. People will be leaving work when it’s dark, and ice and snow can create dangerous situations.

Exterior lights should be placed along all walkways around your building, by steps, and near the entrance. Having lights near the entrance will make the building look more welcoming. You also want lights in the parking lot so that people can enter and leave their cars safely, and so that they can see where they are going (around one in five collisions occur in parking lots).

Lights should also be installed all around your building, especially near any entrance points. This will keep your building safe at night from intruders.

When installing exterior lighting, you need to consider a number of things. First of all, the outside surroundings usually don’t reflect light as much as indoor furniture. This can cause the light to shine heavily on one area without lighting up other areas. You want the light to cast a glow over a large swath of land. You also don’t want the lights to be too bright and end up shining through the building’s windows.

Of course, all exterior lights must be able to withstand the outdoor weather conditions such as rain, snow, heat, and frost.